


You Know Me Too Well

by its_too_cliche_24



Series: Valentine's Day 2019 [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Keith is secretly sweet, Love Confessions, M/M, Secret Admirer, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, scavenger hunt (of sorts), slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_too_cliche_24/pseuds/its_too_cliche_24
Summary: Lance isn't looking forward to Valentine's Day this year. He wakes up on the dreaded day, wanting it to be over as fast as possible. His "secret admirer", however, has other plans.





	You Know Me Too Well

**Author's Note:**

> Valentine's Day is coming up! To celebrate, I'll be posting 14 fics with 14 different ships every day!  
> Day 7

“You are seriously my favorite person right now,” Veronica said solemnly, accepting the cup of coffee Lance offered to her.

“Figured you could use a pick me up, you haven’t slept in what, a week?” Lance teased.

“And a half,” she replied automatically, savoring a long drink of coffee.

“Workaholic.”

“Jerk.”

“I’m gonna go see if I can find Hunk and Pidge,” Lance laughed, “see ya later sis.”

“I’m sure I’ll come home at some point.”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t hold my breath.”

“Brat.”

Lance snickered and walked out. It’d been forever since he’d seen Hunk or Pidge, and since he was in the neighborhood he might as well try to find them. He was 90% sure they’d both be somewhere at the Garrison, but the question was where…

“Hey, Lance!”

Lance turned, and he saw Keith striding over to him. Kosmo trotted happily by his side. When he saw Lance, he bounded over and jumped on him, covering his face in doggy kisses.

“Oy, Kosmo, seriously?” Keith complained, and Kosmo jumped down.

“Oh, he’s fine,” Lance laughed, squatting to give the wolf some scritches.

Kosmo rolled over to show his belly, panting happily.

“What are you doing in town?” Lance asked, looking up at Keith.

“Just stopping by for a quick hi before heading out for a diplomatic meeting,” Keith shrugged, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Good timing, if I hadn’t stopped by to drop off some coffee to my sister you might’ve missed me,” Lance winked. Keith rolled his eyes, unimpressed.

“I’m on my way to see Hunk, you wanna come with?” He offered, nodding down the hallway in the direction Lance just came from.

Lance hopped up. “Sure.”

They walked down the hall side by side, chatting about new things happening in their lives. Keith’s new life as one of Earth’s ambassadors was going great, albeit tiring.

“We’re always moving onto the next thing before I can get a good night’s rest,” he said jokingly, but Lance knew there was truth behind it. He could see it in the bags underneath his eyes.

“How’s your mom? And...Axca?” Lance asked.

Keith took Axca, Zethrid, and Ezor under his wing and they traveled with him everywhere. He was certain that Keith and Axca were dating, but keeping it on the down low. If he wanted any juicy details, he’d have to be crafty. Plus, any intel he got was going straight to Veronica. He didn’t want his sister’s heart broken when they finally announced their relationship - she had the biggest crush on Axca.

“They’re doing great. I’ve been trying to teach them things about Earth culture, but I don’t know if I’m the best at it.” He cringed as if a past memory still haunted him, and then shuddered. But before Lance got the chance to ask, they heard a clatter and laughter coming from a room down the hall.

Upon approach, they heard more laughter, and found Hunk and Shay in the kitchen attempting to cook.

The couple looked up, and their eyes lit up when they saw the two men.

“Lance! Keith!” Hunk exclaimed, running over and scooping them both up in a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you guys!”

Shay giggled from behind him as Lance and Keith both struggled for air. Hunk released them, and they both took a quick breath of air.

“Good to see you too Hunk,” Keith managed.

Kosmo jumped on Hunk, giving him the same doggy kisses he gave Lance.

“Hey buddy!” Hunk said enthusiastically, and both he and Shay gave the wolf lots of pets.

“It is nice to see you two,” Shay smiled at them.

“It’s nice to see you too, Shay. I had no clue you were on Earth, I would’ve dropped by sooner!” Lance said apologetically.

“Hunk invited me for an Earth holiday coming up,” she said, eyes shining.

Holiday? Lance sent Keith a puzzled look, and to Lance’s relief, Keith returned it.

“Yeah,” Hunk added, “we came in here for a practice bake before the big day, but we ended up making a giant mess.”

Both of them laughed, and looked at each other with utter adoration. Their laughter was infectious, and Lance couldn’t help but smile.

“Shay’s never celebrated Valentine’s Day, so this one has to be a really memorable one,” Hunk explained.

Realization hit Lance like a bucket of cold water.

“From what I understand, I believe this will be a fun holiday,” Shay smiled.

Lance registered that the three of them were talking about something, but he couldn’t focus. He’d imagined this before. Being on Earth for Valentine’s Day, with Allura.

Celebrating with her and doing all the things cute couples do.

But there was no more Allura, just a sick reminder of what he lost whenever he looked in the mirror.

“It was nice catching up with you,” Lance said quickly, hurrying out of the room.

He heard their conversation fall short, with murmured whispers about what had just happened. No one came running out of the room after, thank goodness. After he got his emotions in check, he could explain to the what happened. They’d understand.

He burst out of the doors, and sighed when the cool air hit his skin.

Someone cleared their throat right next to him.

“ _Madre de Dios!_ ” He shouted, jumping to the side.

Keith stood there, with Kosmo plopped on the ground next to him looking bored.

“Sorry,” he apologized, looking guilty.

Dang teleporting wolf.

“Man, you scared me,” Lance glowered at him, and stuck his tongue out at Kosmo for good measure.

“Wanna...talk about it?” Keith asked awkwardly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Lance looked away. He would’ve escaped if it wasn’t for that meddling wolf.

“Not really,” He squinted up at the sky, pointedly not looking at Keith.

He fully expected Keith to keep asking him questions, so he prepared for a fight. Instead, Keith stood next to him and looked up at the sky as well. Lance kept forgetting that Keith wasn’t as combative as he was years ago, and they were closer than they were in the Garrison. Maybe...maybe Keith would listen.

“I was just… Hunk teaching Shay about Valentine’s Day made me think of Allura and how much she’d like it. And, I don’t know, am I a complete jerk for being jealous?” He turned, to find Keith gazing at him, absolutely focused on his words.

“Of course not,” Keith said softly.

He let his gaze linger on Lance for a moment longer, then looked back up at the sky.

“I’m not very good with words, and I can’t even begin to understand how much this has hurt you,” he continued. There was silence.

“Was there supposed to be a ‘but’ after that?” Lance teased.

“No,” Keith turned to him, eyes serious. “I could tell you to grieve as long as you want, or I could tell you that it’s okay to get on with your life. But it doesn’t matter what I say, or anyone else for that matter. Only you know what to do, but I will say that no matter what you do, you know what I, along with the rest of the team, will support you.”

Wow, did Keith really just say all of that? It was so gentle, and so out of character. But it had been awhile since he’d actually talked to Keith like this. Lance felt a warmth, and he smiled.

“Thanks, man,” Lance said sincerely.

They stood there for awhile, looking up at the sky in a comfortable silence.

“Any advice for what I should do on Valentine’s Day? Now that I’ve got Allura on the brain, I don’t think I’ll be able to ignore the day.” Lance suddenly spilled, embarrassed.

Part of him felt like he shouldn’t ignore the day and honor Allura’s memory more, and ignoring it would make him unworthy of the marks he bore. The other part of him was tired. Tired of this sadness that would seep in whenever he was left alone with his thoughts.

“It’s a day of celebration, Lance. You have fun.”

He looked over at him with a lopsided smile. Lance couldn’t explain it, but something sent tingles over his body. He cleared his throat.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Even to himself he didn’t sound convinced. But it was easier said than done.

 

~~~

 

At exactly 9:00AM, Lance’s alarm went off. He’d taken the later shift for the day, wanting today to pass as quickly as possible. February 14th. Ugh.

He groggily rolled over to shut off his alarm clock, and came face to face with a bouquet of blue flowers. Squinting in confusion, he reached over opened the note laying there.

_Good morning, Lance. You’re probably wondering what exactly this is._

_All I’ll say for now is this: you’re not going to spend the day working. Don’t worry, I had someone cover your shift. For now, go downstairs and enjoy breakfast, and then get dressed._

_See you soon_

Well, this was new. At that moment he smelled a sweet scent wafting up from the kitchen. Did someone sneak into his house to make him breakfast?

He threw on his robe and pounded down the stairs, hoping to catch the culprit.

Instead, he saw Veronica pulling a tray of cinnamon rolls out of the stove.

“Hey bro,” she said nonchalantly.

“Veronica? Do you know who left me that note?” Lance asked, eyeballing the tray.

It’d been forever since he had cinnamon rolls, most mornings he had cereal or oatmeal, maybe a bagel if he was lucky. But cinnamon rolls...that was a luxury he didn’t get often.

“I’m sworn to secrecy,” Veronica said seriously, but the hint of a smirk remained in her eyes.

Lance crossed his arms across his chest.

“Hey, you’re not getting anything out of me. You’re just gonna have to follow the notes.”

Lance grabbed a cinnamon roll, pretending to be angry. But man, whoever this mystery person was knew their stuff.

“I’ve gotta get back to work,” Veronica adjusted her glasses, picking up her bag.

“Seriously? Not even a hint?”

Before walking out the door, she turned with a smirk.

“I told you so,” she taunted in a sing song voice, and left a baffled Lance eating a cinnamon roll.

Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention back to his breakfast. Who made these? Did the mystery person actually made him cinnamon rolls? Whoever it was, they were great at cooking.

His eyes widened. Hunk! Hunk was the resident chef, and everyone knew it. Maybe he and Shay planned something to keep him distracted.

No, they had their own day to worry about. Not doing some extravagant scavenger hunt for Lance.

Stretching with a groan, Lance stood. Looks like he’d have to follow the notes to figure out who exactly this was. He went upstairs, prepared to get dressed. He opened his dresser drawer, reaching for some old jeans and a flannel shirt.

_No._

There sat a note right on top of the exact outfit he planned to wear.

No?

Eyebrows, knit in confusion, he closed the drawer and opened the one underneath.

_Not this one either._

He groaned in frustration. He was gonna be here all day just trying to find the outfit some note wanted him to wear!

At that moment he noticed a little arrow in the bottom corner, prompting him to flip it over.

_Try the closet._

The closet? There was absolutely nothing in the closet for him to wear.

“Stupid note,” he grumbled, walking over to his closet, “doesn’t even know my wardrobe-”

He threw open the closet doors, and found his old Garrison uniform hanging up.

_There you go._

Lance stood, gaping. No no no no no, he couldn’t wear that! He wasn’t a pilot anymore!

This note had a tiny arrow on it as well, and he flipped it over, hoping for some kind of way to get out of it.

_Trust me, you’ll be fine. I promise._

He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

Why was he following orders from a piece of paper? If whoever was behind this really wanted him to do this, they could be here right now. But… that was why he was doing this, right? There was a part of him that knew if he stopped right now, he would always wonder who was behind the notes. Plus, what else did he have to do today? Mope?

“La curiosidad mató al gato,” he grabbed the uniform with a sigh.

After he got dressed, he felt something in one of the pockets.

_You know where to go._

Yeah, he certainly did.

 

~~~

 

Lance did not expect to be greeted as soon as he stepped foot on the property.

“Mr. McClain,” an official representative greeted him, and steered him towards where he was supposed to go, apparently.

They entered a big empty warehouse style room. Well, it was almost empty. There was a fighter plane parked in the middle of the room. Another man greeted him.

“You must be Lance,” he said, almost winking.

“I must be,” he said, not really paying attention.

The plane clearly had some Altean technology mixed in with it, but he hadn’t seen this design when they fought Sendak.

“Ain’t she a beaut?” The man followed Lance’s gaze.

“Yeah, she really is.”

“Fresh off the line, that one. And she’s the first of her kind!” He turned his attention back to Lance, “You’re a lucky guy.”

Taken aback, Lance looked over at the guy. “Come again?”

“You get to take her out on her first flight,” the guy said with a wicked smile.

His eyes widened, and he looked at the plane. He hadn’t flown in...well, since he was a paladin. Sometimes he would randomly get the urge to hijack one of the fighters and take it for a spin, just to feel that rush again. The kind of rush you couldn’t get farming.

No that he hated his life now, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss being out in the galaxy _doing_ things. He was more than a little impressed that whoever was leaving him the notes knew that. Intuitively, somehow.

“Let’s do this,” Lance grinned.

 

~~~

 

When he landed, it was only because he was out of fuel. Even though it’d been a couple of hours and he should’ve been feeling sore, he could’ve stayed up there for several hours more.

The guy was sitting with a magazine when Lance landed.

“There you are,” He laughed, “I thought for sure you flew to a different country!”

“Nah, just a different galaxy.”

At the man’s awed expression, Lance laughed.

“Kidding, man.”

Lance sighed and looked back at the plane. That was more fun than he had in a long time.

“You’ve got a great plane on your hands.”

“No I don’t.”

This guy kept saying things that continued to surprise him.

“You, you don’t?”

“Nope.” He turned to Lance, again with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “She’s yours.”

Lance blinked, looking between the man and the plane. “No, no, there’s no way.”

“There is a way. I’m not at liberty to say who, but they were very convincing and managed to buy this plane. Now, we’ll keep it fueled and stuff, but she’s all yours.”

The man continued on, telling him more information. Lance couldn’t focus on any of what he was saying. Someone actually bought him a plane. A fighter, of all things. On a whim? How much thought actually went into this? No, that didn’t even matter, someone _bought him a plane_. That couldn’t have been cheap. How did they know whether or not Lance would actually use it?

This had to be someone who knew him extremely well. Not only would they have to know him intimately, but they had to care a _lot_ for him. How else could he explain the plane?

“-so you can pop in whenever you feel the need to.” The guy continued. “I get like that too. When my mind can’t stop and I just need something to distract me. There’s nothing more relaxing and exhilarating than being in the cockpit.”

Lance nodded, that was exactly it. The feeling was almost indescribable. He felt bad for zoning out while the guy was talking to him, what if he missed an important clue?

“Don’t worry, we’ll send you everything you need to know about her. For now,” he handed Lance a note.

“Are you sure you can’t tell me who it is?” Lance persuaded, hands itching to open the note.

“Nope, I prefer living,” he said bluntly, and walked away. “I bet I’ll be seeing you around more often though!”

Well, it was worth a shot. He opened the note.

_Don’t be too mad at me, okay? I know how much you miss flying and I also know that planes don’t just fall out of the sky. I’m glad you’re her pilot, you’ll treat her better than a lot of others out there._

Lance felt a blush spread across his face. Mystery note person was seeming a little more like “secret admirer”. He continued reading.

_Now, let’s get out of here. If I were you, I’d go check my room. Hey, maybe if you’re fast enough, you’ll catch me._

Lance took off running.

 

~~~

 

Sadly, no one was in his house when he got there. He felt like an idiot for rushing over, because they probably did it all when he was in the sky. And the fact that they knew probably knew he’d still be up in the air, well, they were definitely going to get it as soon as he figured out who it was.

He stopped his climb up to his room. What _was_ he going to do when he found out who it was? They knew so much about him, and Lance didn’t even have a single guess. Maybe it could be someone at the Garrison, but did anyone really know him well enough?

Lance resumed his climb up the stairs. There was a black duffel bag sitting on his bed with another note. The note could wait, but he wanted to know what was inside the bag. He opened it to find beach wear, and lots of other beachy things.

_It’s been awhile since you’ve been to Varadero Beach, right? It’s a little ways away, but worth it. Plus, it’ll go much faster in a refueled fighter plane._

Oh, this mystery admirer knew the way to his heart.

 

~~~

 

Sure enough, when he got back to the Garrison, he found his jet refueled. The guy also returned, promising him they’d give him instructions to get to Varadero Beach.

Apparently his note giver also rented out a very specific section of the beach, just for him.

How quiznacking romantic.

A few hours later, he landed on the beach. No fancy tricks and he’d have more than enough fuel to get home. Not that he was worried.

No, he was much more worried about meeting whoever was behind this. He hopped out of the jet, bag in hand.

The beach was completely empty, except for an open restaurant a few yards away. There was a table with two chairs set up, and a gorgeous woman behind the counter.

“You must be Lance,” she called, beckoning him closer.

“I must be,” he responded, walking towards her.

“I’m a little disappointed you don’t already know me, Senorita. You’re not behind these notes?”

She rolled her eyes, but a smile danced across her lips.

“Can I ask your name, beautiful?”

“They told me you’d be a flirt.”

“You wound me.”

“My name’s Maite. And whoever’s behind this must really care about you,” she marveled, looking at the jet behind him.

“Yeah...you wouldn’t happen to know who that is, right?” Lance prompted, slapping on a dashing smile.

“Nope. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you,” she said sweetly.

“Killjoy.”

“I hear you like garlic knots?” She changed the subject.

“Um, yeah, I do.”

“Well, I can make those, along with anything else you’d like,” she hesitated, “within reason. I’m not a genie.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. You’re little crew debriefed me on what you like so I could get the appropriate ingredients. Garlic knots, milkshakes -”

“Wait, my crew?” Lance asked, bewildered.

“You don’t think that your secret admirer has been running around doing all this by themselves, do you?” She winked, sashaying away.

She returned with a plate of garlic knots, much to Lance’s delight.

“I got a batch ready for you before you got here.”

“Thanks!”

So his admirer had a crew, huh? A crew that knew what foods he liked…

Duh.

“Let me ask you this...does my ‘crew’ consist of a big Samoan guy, a rock alien, and a tiny evil dictator?” He thought for a minute, “and a guy with a mullet and an blue wolf?”

“Mostly,” she said noncommittally.

He rolled his eyes with a grin. His crew was really the best.

Munching on the knots thoughtfully, he considered the possibilities.

If Hunk, Shay, Pidge, and Keith were part of his crew, then who was behind it? Not that he thought any one of them would do this for him. Hunk and Shay had their own Valentine’s plans, they probably helped where they could. Maybe it was Hunk who made the cinnamon rolls after all. Pidge, well, she could probably pull off the scavenger hunt with her crafty rat brain, but the notes were borderline romantic. They were basically siblings so that’d be weird for both of them.

Keith….

An involuntary blush blossomed on his face.

No, no _no_.

He was _not_ going to go down that path again.

Besides, didn’t he have some important diplomatic meeting to go to?

“ _And he has Axca_ ,” an irritating thought nagged at the back of his head.

Oh, right.

Then he realized he was being ridiculous. Here he was on his favorite place on Earth, and he hadn’t even put on his swim trunks! Eventually he’d know who’s behind all this, but until then he’d enjoy having the beach to himself.

 

~~~

 

A couple hours and several garlic knots later, Lance began packing his things.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Maite asked, concerned.

“It’s going to be dark soon, I honestly should’ve left a while ago,” Lance explained, glancing at the sky. He was more than a little disappointed that no one showed up, and he wondered what he had to do to find out who it was.

Maite slapped her forehead, and walked away.

Alrighty then.

She came back and handed him a note.

“I meant to give you this when you got here, you distracted me with your questions!” She lightly poked him in the arm.

Lance laughed, and he opened the note.

_Looks like you made it. That was probably a long flight, right? Relax and enjoy yourself._

_When you’re ready you’ll find a nice room booked in that hotel overlooking your section of the beach. Room service is all paid for._

_Stay. Watch the stars with me._

Well, he couldn’t say no to a free hotel.

He suddenly realized he couldn’t control his breathing.

This person had gone above and beyond for him, and Lance couldn’t even imagine the expenses everything cost.

The thought of meeting them to stargaze sent shivers through Lance. It was so romantic, yet he didn’t even know who he’d be watching with!

“Well, twist my arm,” Lance said softly, not able to keep the slight tremble out of his voice.

"Nervous?” Maite grinned mischievously.

“Of course not,” he snapped, and then sighed.

Of course he was.

He plopped down on the chair and politely asked for one of the soda’s she kept in the back. When she came back, she sat down across from him with a slight frown on her face.

“Are you okay?” She asked, sliding the drink across the table to him.

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” he sighed. She waited patiently for him to finish debating whether or not he wanted to tell her anything.

“It’s just, this has been fun and all, but...I don’t know how I should feel. I… truth is, I don’t know what to call her. Girlfriend? Crush? I don’t know, but she... died not too long ago. Left me with these marks,” he gestured to his face, and Maite nodded, listening to him with careful interest.

“I’m still not entirely sure what they mean, but every time I see them I think of her, and,” he clenched his fist, sighing. “I feel guilty everytime I think about moving on, but truth is, I don’t know how long I can go on feeling this way.”

“Today was gonna suck.” Lance said honestly, “A friend told me to go have fun, and I did. But if I didn’t have this secret admirer, I don’t know what I would’ve done with the day. And now I’m even more confused.”

Lance sighed, taking another drink of his cola. Maite reached across the table to squeeze his hand. Her eyes were full of understanding and sadness.

“I don’t know enough for my opinion to carry any weight, and I don’t know who’s behind this, but I do know from how your friends spoke of them that they would stand by whatever you choose to do. But can I offer my advice anyways?” She asked, still gently squeezing Lance’s hand.

“Of course.”

“Feeling guilty can’t help you move on,” she said softly. “Listen to your heart, chulo.”

Lance smiled at her, genuinely grateful for the advice.

“You know, we should hang out sometime. I’m sure you’d love my friends when they’re not just telling you what I like.”

“Oh, I’m sure you love it when the attention is all on you,” she teased.

“Hey!”

 

~~~

 

The sun had barely dipped below the horizon when Maite handed him a rolled up letter.

“I can’t wait any longer,” she said excitedly, “this is the last one.”

“Maite, you’ve been holding out on me!” Lance complained, only to mask how nervous he was.

The answer had to be in this letter. After he finished reading it, would they show up? Or… 

“They’re not gonna be in my hotel room are they?” Lance’s eyebrows shot up.

Maite rolled her eyes. “Open it!”

Carefully, he unrolled it with shaky hands.

_Hey Lance, hope you made it this far._

_I also hope you had fun, and it wasn’t just an annoying waste of your time. Did the jet live up to its reputation? I hear it's supposed to be one of the best. I thought you’d like having one on hand, which in I just now realize what I just unleashed on the world...anyways..._

_I'm not very good with words, so I don’t know how to put this._

_Ever since the Garrison, I’ve had a massive crush on you. It never went away, but I never acted on it. I never planned to either, but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t. Plus hiding behind this letter makes it *way* easier to confess._

_I’d love it if you felt the same way, but don’t sweat it if you don’t. I value your friendship more than anything, and I hope this doesn’t make things awkward between us._

_I hope this at least made your Valentine’s Day a little more bearable._

_\- Keith_

Lance scanned the words several more times, as many times as he could. Keith? This was all Keith?

A grin worked its way onto his face. Maite sighed in relief.

Keith set this all up, and had feelings for... _him?_

In hindsight, it was all obvious. Hunk making him the cinnamon rolls, Pidge ninja-ing her way into Lance’s house to set up the plan as it went. He wondered how long they knew about Keith’s feelings for him.

Honestly, Lance was glad it was Keith. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t have a crush on Keith back at the Garrison, and now...well, he’d be lying too if he said it hadn’t resurfaced a tiny bit.

Laughing, he looked up at the inky black sky. Somewhere out there was a romantic dork, way more romantic than Lance could ever suspect.

He had someone to kiss when he came back to Earth.


End file.
